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Culture and place
3.1 Defining culture Culture is a complex concept and can be quite hard to define. It encompasses human intellectual achievement as well as popular customs and beliefs. However, for our purposes in this course ‘culture’ is broadly defined as follows: • Culture is global. It exists on many levels: international, national, regional, local and personal. • Culture is a framework. It is constructed from human thoughts, emotions, behaviours and beliefs. It is what humans create, organise and express in their daily lives. • Culture is dynamic. It is fluid and always changing, continually influenced by historical, geographical, social and technological conditions.
Activity 3.1: Cultural perspectives Spend a few minutes thinking about how you view the art of other cultures. Use the following questions to help you. • When looking at unfamiliar art from other cultures, do you consider it the same way you do art from your own familiar culture? • What sort of ‘lens’ or viewpoint do you use for looking at it? • Does the unfamiliarity of the other culture distance you from the work? • Do you try to relate it to your own culture or do you use a different set of criteria to understand it? • Do you consider art from other cultures for its aesthetic value, or its social and historical context, or both?
Activity 3.2: Familiar and unfamiliar Refer to the images in Figures 3.2 and 3.3, or find your own familiar and unfamiliar artworks or artefacts that share common qualities. What you choose as familiar will depend on your individual cultural background. Compare the two pieces using the questions in Activity 3.1, ‘Cultural perspectives’.
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Figure 3.02: The Hindu deity Ganesha is one of India’s most beloved gods. He is a remover of obstacles and a bearer of good fortune.
Figure 3.03: The Winged Victory of Samothrace (Greece 200–190 BCE) is a monumental marble sculpture of the goddess Nike. It is an iconic image in western art history, depicting both the divine and the triumphant spirit.